2 black sedans wanted in connection to deadly shooting of 12-year-old boy in Brooklyn, NYPD says
NEW YORK - A mother is mourning tonight after her 12-year-old son was shot and killed in Brooklyn last night. Police say he was sitting in a parked car when he was hit.
As CBS2's Leah Mishkin reports, residents in the area are shaken.
"This stuff really needs to stop," said East Flatbush resident Tatiana Parkin.
The NYPD says a 20-year-old woman and two children were sitting inside a parked car on East 56th street and Linden Boulevard Thursday night around 7:45 p.m. Police say they were eating when two sedans in the area began exchanging gunfire. One of the bullets hit the 12-year-old boy, who has been identified as Kade Lewin, in the car in the head. He died at the scene.
"I was shocked, surprised and hurt," Parkin said.
Parkin, a longtime resident, gave voice to a message many in the community are feeling.
"Violence like this, it needs to come to an end. But at the end of the day, stuff like this now is just nonstop, but it needs to stop," Parkin said.
Watch Leah Mishkin's report
The NYPD say the 20-year-old woman in the parked car was also shot, multiple times. We're told she was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition.
Police say there was also an 8-year-old girl in the backseat who was not injured.
A family member who did not want to be on camera told us that little girl is Kade's niece and the woman driving the car is his cousin.
"A 12-year-old, we lost, sitting here in that car eating. The question I continue to ask, what about the innocent people?" Mayor Eric Adams said. "As long as we have guns and a revolving door system, we're going to continue to come to crime scenes like this. It's time for it to stop."
Adams addressed the gun violence at the scene Thursday night.
"We're going to catch the shooter. But as long as we have guns in the revolving door system, we're going to continue to come to crime scenes like this. It's time for it to stop," Adams said.
"I really feel we should give more power to police, and make harsher jail sentences," one person said.
A friend of Kade's family stopped by the area Friday morning in disbelief. He spoke to the 12-year-old's mother earlier in the day.
"I just tell her I hear what happened. And she said they just killed my son like that," he said.
He described the boy as a quiet kid. The news hit him hard.
"I wasn't expecting it was the small one. A 12-year-old? I don't know," he said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted about the shooting.
"12 years old. A life cut short, a family grieving, and an entire community traumatized. We must do more to get illegal guns off our streets and to stop violence before it stops," Hochul wrote.
Friday evening, dozens attended a community gathering at the corner of Linden Boulevard and 56th Street to stand in solidarity with Kade's loved ones.
As CBS2's Cory James reports, Kade's mother did not speak, but you could see the pain written all over her as she sat during the gathering.
"I couldn't sleep last night. I was thinking about that little kid and his parents, what they're going through right now. Because I'm a parent and I'm a grandma, and it's really hard. It's very painful," East Flatbush resident Anna Charles said.
Elected officials addressed the violence, saying state and local governments need to do more to get illegal guns off the streets.
"We've been saying the same thing over and over. There's too many guns in our streets. We got to stop them from coming in the streets, and we have to get more infrastructure to deal with the issues that people are dealing with in the streets," Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said.
"There are people in this area selling guns on the corner in their cars," New York City Councilwoman Farah Louis said.
"You want to lecture our community about public safety? Put the damn money in the community," New York State Sen. Zellnor Myrie said.
Community members lit candles while reeling from this tragic death, and as they processed the senseless crime, police handed out fliers in hopes of getting people who may know something to speak out.
"It's just too much to bear. I have children, and I'm so scared," East Flatbush resident Christine Charles said.
It's still unclear whether the vehicle was targeted or caught in the crossfire. Police are pleading for the public's help to solve the case.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
